Abstract

The association between particulate matter < 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) and mild disease episodes, not leading to hospitalization or death, has been rarely investigated.

Introduction and aims

We studied the short-term effect of PM10 on purchases of specific cardiorespiratory medications, as proxies of mild episodes, in 7 small- and medium-sized cities of Northern Italy, during 2005–2006.

Materials and methods

We extracted information on purchased prescriptions from healthcare administrative databases, and we obtained daily PM10 concentrations from fixed monitoring stations. We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design, using the time-series of antidiabetic drugs purchases to control for confounding due to irregularities in daily purchase frequencies.